


When the Germans Invade

by mia6363



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: M/M, Meeting the Parents, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-03
Updated: 2013-09-03
Packaged: 2017-12-25 13:12:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/953502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mia6363/pseuds/mia6363
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Really, Hannibal should have known better than to think that he had a handle on Doctor Newton Geiszler at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the Germans Invade

Hannibal had a weakness for people with smarts. 

It was something he’d known ever since he’d looked at Evelyn Mendes twice in the ninth grade. She’d been curvy, with some remaining baby fat, and wasn’t a knockout cheerleader or the kind of girl that middle-aged men fantasized about fucking on a pile of rose petals. But she did make high honor roll every quarter.

That summer she’d taught Hannibal a lot about the human body, whether it was the both of them leaning over a diagram in one of her illustrated surgery guides she’d swiped up at a bargain bin in Barnes and Noble, or if it was in the backseat of his car as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ears and licked her lips before cheekily stating, “I read about this in an article,” before she made Hannibal’s vision blur and his fingers twist in her hair. 

Yeah… he had a thing for brains. 

So when Newton came back from the public shelter, wet and shaking—Hannibal knew that it could be messy. Because the kid was smart, a little—no— _a lot_ reckless, and he had that passion about the Kaiju that made Hannibal’s mouth dry.

Kae-lin narrowed her dark eyes behind Hannibal and he heard her spit out hissed words in clipped Catonese. 

_“He’s going to be trouble.”_

Hannibal chuckled because yeah, it was kinda obvious that Newton dragged “trouble” wherever he went. But a little trouble, Hannibal could handle, even use to his advantage. 

Really, Hannibal should have known better than to think that he had a handle on Doctor Newton Geiszler at all.

::::

“You’re not joking?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

Hannibal stared down at Newton, watching the man’s eyes dart around his empty room at the Shatterdome. His leg bounced and his fingers twitched in patterns, and Hannibal knew he’d get a headache if he tried to keep track of all the movement. Newton swallowed, adjusting his glasses. 

“No—well, actually I wouldn’t know, maybe dead pan is _your thing_. And give me a break! You just walk in here being all _not dead_ and spring this—uh, uh—”

“I’d call it a polite offer.” Hannibal grinned, making sure to show all his teeth. “A rather lucrative offer considering it looks like you’ve been put out of a job.”

Newton’s face fell and his jaw became stiff.

“Excuse you, I was saving the world. We’re all still alive because of Hermann and me!” 

The silence that followed was thick, Newton’s glasses fogged and he looked away, blinking rapidly. Hannibal watched Newton swallow and his eyes water, and for once Hannibal decided to spare the man, just this once. He took a step back, taking a deep breath.

“Look, kid, you did good. No one’s denying that. Sales have been through the roof because of you. I’m just asking if you want to continue your work with the Kaiju, because I have the materials and the money to keep this thing going. And you’ve got the drive, kiddo, no one else would have ever considered Drifting with a Kaiju, but you did.”

Newton’s eyes slid back to meet Hannibal’s. He smiled.

“What do you have in mind?” 

Hannibal pulled up the spare chair in the room. He sat down, his knees bumping Newton’s. 

“Well, there are two options I see. Either we can try and find terrestrial materials to mimic the Kaiju’s makeup and make a synthetic version of our products or—” Hannibal’s lips pulled back into a grizzly smile. “Cloning.” 

Newton licked his lips and he didn’t immediately shoot down the notion. And that’s why Hannibal came to find him, because if anyone was nuts enough to try it—it was that kid. 

“It’s a long shot.” Newton nodded, his eyes misting over, going distant, no doubt running schematics through his head, equations—things Hannibal couldn’t keep up with. “I mean, a real long shot—no one’s tried anything bigger than a lamb before, let alone a human so this would be—”

“Every once and a while,” Hannibal’s deep voice made Newton fall quiet, and for a moment it was like they were in temple, a hushed sanctuary aura surrounding them, “a long-shot comes before me. Most of the times I tell ‘em to get lost because I don’t like things that waste my time or money. But others—very few, kid—have fantastic ideas that move forward instead of being a distraction.” Christ, he sounded like a politician, using flowery language to woo the kid over to his side of the tracks. Judging by the flush on Newton’s cheeks, it was working. Hannibal leaned forward, elbows on his knees and his voice quiet. “So, what do you say, kid? Want to give it a shot?”

“Yes!” Newton grinned; jumping up to his feet like it was a marriage proposal, not a business deal. “Let’s do it, when do we start?”

Right as Hannibal said “Now,” a man hobbled into the room with a cane. His eyes widened with recognition once they landed on Hannibal, but Hannibal hadn’t met the frail looking gentleman in his life. Ah, so this must be Newton’s Drift partner. 

“Newton, what’s going on?”

Newton’s cocky smile was back and the other man’s shoulders shot up defensively, an automatic response. 

“Got me a new job with the big guy over here.”

The man shook his head, his expression becoming even more pinched. 

“No, Newt—no, your father—” 

Hermann’s eyes flickered to Hannibal, and then he lapsed into German. It made Hannibal’s eyes widen behind his glasses because yeah, he was familiar with hearing the language but that didn’t make him fluent, not at all. He just thought the other guy was messing with Newton, until Newton responded in German with fervor, laughing and nudging his companion before finally lapsing back into English.

“Relax, Hermy.” Newton sprung up. “It’s research. Nothing wrong with a little research.”

Hannibal’s hand fell on Newton’s shoulders and he squeezed lightly, liking how it made the kid jump.

It took two and a half weeks for Newton to finish cloning a Kaiju scale. The kid didn’t sleep for the last five days, and by the time he’d finished he was a shaking, semi-delirious mess.

That didn’t stop Hannibal, his crew, and Newt from celebrating with a copious amount of alcohol. 

::::

When Kae-lin came into Hannibal’s office with an expression mixed with frustration and worry, Hannibal sat up straighter, closing his big book of meetings and sales to give her his full attention.

“What is it?”

“Newt.” Kae-lin scratched her bald head, rolling her eyes. “He won’t go to sleep and he’s harassing the crew for caffeine since I cut him off.” 

Hannibal pinched his nose as he stood up.

“God damned moron.” 

By the time Hannibal got down to Newt’s private lab he had prepped himself for the worst—and the worst was what he found. Newton smelled rank and was hunched over his notebooks, collecting data on the three Kaiju livers growing in massive tanks. Hannibal wasn’t sure when this became routine in his life, or when it became comfortable. Some things he preferred not to dwell on.

He flicked Newt’s ear. 

“Hey.” Newt jumped and Hannibal rolled his eyes behind his dark sunglasses. “You smell terrible and you need sleep.”

“But the livers—”

“Will be fine without you constantly staring at them, kid. You know what they say about a watched pot.” 

Newt scrunched up his face.

“It never grows and wastes a lot of your hard earned cash?”

Kae-lin laughed from the corner. Hannibal steered Newt out of the lab. Newt must have wanted to take a break because he went without a fight. When he wanted to he could give Hannibal one hell of a fight. As they walked back to the main floor, towards Hannibal’s private quarters, his workers smirked at Newt’s way. Hannibal opened his doors. 

“Come on, kid. Shower.”

Newt yawned. 

“I must be pretty bad if you’re not letting me go home.” Newt’s glasses slid down his nose, blinking like he realized where he was. “Wait, is this—is this your—?” Hannibal sniffed, opening the door to his bathroom. He smiled to himself when Newt stiffened because yeah, Hannibal wasn’t the kind of person to live modestly. He wanted to feel the best he could at all times. Some would call it hedonistic; Hannibal liked to think of it as living in and for the present. Newt let out a pornographic moan. “Is that a sunken bath?”

“Actually it’s a Jacuzzi but—”

Newt took off, stripping his shirt off in a swift move, and for a moment Hannibal was frozen in place because he had no idea that Newt’s tattoos went all the way up his back, and then Newt was struggling to undo his belt. 

Hannibal turned around, hearing Newt’s jeans hit the floor a few moments later. Newt let out a strangled sound and there was a splash. 

“Let me guess, you forgot I was in the room and then realized you just stripped in front of Hannibal Chau.”

Hannibal took a chance and glanced over his shoulder. Thankfully Newt was in the Jacuzzi, his glasses fogged up and his cheeks pink.

“No. Yes. Maybe. Look, it’s a Jacuzzi. I never thought I’d see one of these babies again, let alone _be_ in one. You would have totally done the same thing. I mean, you wouldn’t know because you’ve had this freakin’ thing just sitting here.” 

Newt stopped talking suddenly, like he was stopping himself from rambling. Hannibal crossed his arms. They stared at each other, Newt hiding behind bubbles in the Jacuzzi and Hannibal hiding behind his sunglasses. 

“So what got you so riled?” Newt sank lower into the Jacuzzi. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about the livers, you’ve already had six perfect replicas.” 

Over the past four months Hannibal had to adjust his method of handling problems. Usually the kind of problems Hannibal had required violence, money, or both. Scientific progress from an outsider… was different. Newt certainly would respond to violence, torture, brute force, but as the saying went, “it was easier to catch flies with honey.” 

But there was also the problem that Newt wasn’t like the rest of Hannibal’s crew. He wasn’t a part of deliveries or money collection duties. He didn’t need to prove his worth through his ability to dish out pain. Plus, his crew wasn’t sometimes crippled by their genius with random nosebleeds, insomnia, and a manic drive that was as impressive as it was frightening. But Hannibal didn’t coddle anyone; he didn’t ask if they were doing okay. That just wasn’t what he was about…

Truth be told, even if he wanted to do any of those things… he’d forgotten how.

Newt fiddled with a container of bath salts. 

“Eh, my dad’s been driving me crazy. Calling all the time—it’s just…” Newt made a frustrated sound, swatting at the water and accidentally knocking in all of the bath salts. “Shit, shit!” 

Hannibal sighed as the scent of spearmint exploded in the room. He ran his fingers through his hair.

“I’m gonna be out for a few days, heading up to Berlin. I’ve got my cell, let me know if there’s an emergency.” 

Hannibal turned and left before he could ask stupid questions. Questions like, “want me to pick you up anything,” or, “want to come along and play translator?” He got out of there, a spearmint-scented mist following him. 

::::

Kae-lin was quiet all along the drive on the German countryside, the rolling hills past wreckage. She only made a sound when they came to a stop at a massive mansion that housed the man behind the German mob. To most, this man was a shadow, nameless but fearsome. To Hannibal, he was Sebastian Kruger. 

Hannibal stepped out of the car. While the driver opened the door for Kae-lin Hannibal gave the place a once over. He’d never been invited to Kruger’s home before. He was nervous. He made sure to have his men track the car, waiting in the surrounding forest for the slightest disturbance.

The front doors swung open, Sebastian striding through them with his arms outstretched. 

“Ah, _wunderbar_. Welcome to my humble home!” 

Kae-lin snickered and Hannibal subtly nudged her as he walked up the steps to shake Sebastian’s hand.

“Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Kruger.” 

Sebastian flung his head back and laughed, his grey hair and beard quivering with mirth. His hand landed hard on Hannibal’s forearm and Hannibal didn’t flinch even though it was the first time Sebastian had initiated contact with him in their eight years of knowing each other. 

“Please, please, call me Sebastian. You make me feel like an old, plucked bird.” His dark, glittering eyes jumped from Hannibal to Kae-lin, who’d joined Hannibal at his side. “ _Enchante, madamoiselle_ , I would kiss your hand if I wasn’t certain you’d cut off my lips for breaching your personal space. I assure you, if I manage to slip and forget myself, it’s only because I’m used to displaying affection outwardly.”

Oh yeah, Hannibal almost forgot how much Kruger loved to talk. 

They were ushered inside, and the house was devoid of Sebastian’s family. The man wore a wedding ring, but all the pictures had been taken down. Hannibal wasn’t surprised; if he were a family man he would have done the same thing. But he wouldn’t have ever invited anyone from his business life into his home. 

Guards and various members of Kruger’s gang lined the halls like decorations. Sebastian just strolled down the hall and to the kitchen like he was hosting a dinner party with close friends and not an update on illegal Kaiju organ dealing. 

Steaming food was waiting for them at the table and Hannibal sat across from Sebastian, Kae-lin on Hannibal’s left. 

“I hope you don’t mind the change of location, I just couldn’t bear to drag myself to the city, I miss my space. Please, please, dig in, I know the flight must have been long.” When Hannibal and Kae-lin didn’t immediately move Sebastian got up and served them. “I must say, once the Rift was sealed I knew that your prices would dramatically increase—but I can’t say I did predict that you would keep selling for such a long time.” Sebastian pushed the two plates toward them before serving himself, cutting into the meat with his knife, smiling widely at Hannibal. “Surely you don’t have that many Kaiju remains in reserve.”

Hannibal only grabbed his fork and knife once he saw Sebastian chew and swallow his food. Kae-lin followed Hannibal’s lead. Hannibal shrugged.

“That could be the case.” 

Sebastian winked, his lips pulling back to expose his teeth that hid behind his mustache and beard. 

“Yes, but come on, Hannibal. What are you hiding?” Sebastian leaned forward. Kae-lin tensed and Hannibal stilled. Sebastian was close, close enough so that Hannibal saw the savage scar that ran across his throat. Hannibal recalled how every meeting he’d had with Sebastian the man had worn ascots, scarves, or ties. Today, his first button was open, exposing the savage scar that must have been a close call, but not enough to stop Sebastian from talking as much as he pleased. Sebastian grinned, his eyes flicking merrily from Hannibal, to Kae-lin, the back to Hannibal. “You’ve found a way to clone them, haven’t you?”

Hannibal tilted his head to the side. The key to retaining power was to be surrounded in mystery. The less everyone knew about him the better. 

“I couldn’t say, Sebastian. I will say that I’ve got a fantastic team and one hell of a Kaiju specialist that really knows their stuff.”

Sebastian blew out a long breath and sat back in his chair, stroking his beard. 

“Kaiju specialist? Not a lot of those around, well, some _groupies_ , but specialists…”

Hannibal grinned.

“Mine’s no groupie. They’re the real deal.” 

Hannibal made sure to not be gender-specific. He saw the spark in Sebastian’s eye, that curiosity, and Hannibal wanted to keep that at a safe distance and didn’t want Sebastian knowing the ins and outs of his operation… or about Newt.

The dinner continued on in silence. Hannibal was no stranger to a tense silence; this one was more awkward than tense. As soon as he finished, Sebastian clapped his hands together.

“Are you interested in having a night out? German clubs are quite the scene if that’s at all up your alley. Or perhaps…” Sebastian puffed out his chest, his cheeks rosy and not something you’d picture a man who’d killed, tortured, and extorted his way to be the king of the European Underworld. “Maybe a little more mature fun. The girls here—they are the best.” When Hannibal didn’t immediately respond Sebastian barreled forward. “Or maybe men is more your taste. Either way, I have some excellent suggestions for and your companion—”

“No, thank you.” Hannibal gently pushed his plate away. “I’d rather stick to business rather than pleasure.” 

Sebastian blinked. 

“Okay. If that is what you’d like I’ll prepare some tea and have Diana draft up some paperwork.”

A woman, one of Sebastian’s guards, seemed to melt out of the shadows. Her hair was pulled back into a tight pony-tail and her lips were pressed into a thin line as she approached the table with a suitcase. 

Sebastian leapt up and whistled a cheery tune as Diana pushed the plates aside gently and laid out papers, requests for Kaiju organs and the prices that Sebastian was putting out there as a starting bid. Hannibal grinned and cracked his knuckles. 

“Let’s get to work.”

Diana’s lips twitched up into a smile that could slice through diamond and she sat in Sebastian’s chair.

“Yes, let’s.” 

::::

Kae-lin and Hannibal were invited to stay at Sebastian’s until the morning and Hannibal insisted that he share a room with Kae-lin. She sighed and sat on the bed, kicking off her shoes and rubbing her fingers against her temples. 

_“Are all Germans this friendly?”_

Hannibal snorted, easing his gold-tipped shoes off his feet, flexing his toes against the carpet. 

_“That’s the not the stereotype Germans are necessarily known for. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing with this guy or not, keep on your toes.”_

Kae-lin gave a curt nod right when Hannibal’s cell phone began to buzz. He saw Newt’s name flash up on the screen and in seconds the phone was pressed to his ear. 

“What’s wrong? What’s the damage?”

_“Whoa, whoa, chill out. I was just calling to, uh, see how it’s going. You know, the business stuff. Unless—are you on vacation?”_

“No, this isn’t a vacation.” Hannibal sighed with relief, sitting next to Kae-lin. “It’s going fine, kid. Don’t worry about it. We’ll be back late tomorrow. And get some sleep.”

_“Yeah, yeah, all right, yeesh, quit being such a worry war—”_

Hannibal hung up the phone and tossed it on the table with a chuckle. Kae-lin was already positioned at the door, her body in a defensive position. Hannibal took off his glasses, his back against the headboard, and he glanced at Kae-lin.

“Three hour shifts?”

She nodded and Hannibal closed his eyes.

::::

Hannibal woke to the sound of his phone buzzing and Kae-lin tying her shoes. He quickly put on his sunglasses and checked his phone. He had five new text messages from Newton.

_Starting the heart cloning process now. Fucking scary but awesome._

_Instead of paying me how about you pay me in Jacuzzi uses?_

_I want to use your Jacuzzi but your guys won’t let me in._

_Heart’s going well._

The final was Newt taking a “selfie” of him and the man who guarded Hannibal’s door with Newt flipping off the guard while the guard in question struggled not to smile. Hannibal felt his lips twitch up into a small smile even though it was early in the morning.

When Kae-lin and Hannibal went downstairs Sebastian had his arms deep in flour and a pink apron tied around his waist. The kitchen admittedly smelled amazing and there was a small mountain of plastic containers filled with—

“Strudel!” Sebastian’s beard had some powder caught in it as he grinned at them, much too sunny for such an early hour. “I got to thinking last night that your poor scientist fellow must be famished, the poor soul must be a genius to have kept you flush with business. Nothing fills the heart like a good strudel, so I made you some, as a show of good faith.” 

Hannibal bit down a frown as he grabbed a few of the containers. 

“I’ll pass on your well wishes.”

Sebastian bowed.

“Please do! _Auf Wiedersehen_!”

Diana opened the door and right as Kae-lin was out of the door the German smiled like a shark. 

“I love what you’ve done with your hair.”

The door slammed right as Kae-lin’s knife dug into the door. Kae-lin ripped the knife out of the wood and stomped to the car, muttering darkly under her breath. Hannibal chucked the strudel in the trash, the last thing he needed was Newt getting poisoned because a nosy German wanted to throw a wrench into Hannibal’s crew.

Kae-lin smoked a cigarette inside the airport. Hannibal was already feeling more relaxed as he watched his private plane pull up. His phone buzzed and it was another picture from Newt. 

It was a picture of a developing Kaiju heart with a post-it-note that was blurry but Hannibal could clearly read: _I <3 you. Get it?_

Before they boarded the plane Hannibal grabbed some bath salts and told himself it was barely a tenth of pocket change—that it meant nothing, just something to cheer the kid up.

As soon as the plastic bottle hit Newt’s fingers the smile that broke across his face made Hannibal squirm internally. Newt smacked Hannibal’s shoulder. 

“Souvenir! Nice! I knew it, I knew you had a sweet spot for me, all I had to do was give you my heart, well, a Kaiju heart—”

Hannibal nudged Newt hard in the stomach, hard enough to knock the breath out of him but not hard enough to bruise. Newt’s smile was still on his face, and Hannibal still knew he was in trouble.

::::

The mistake that Hannibal seemed to keep making with Newton was that he underestimated the kid. He thought Newt would die in the public shelter, but he came back with even more drive and more balls. He thought that the cloning process would take longer to figure out, Newt tackled the problem like he’d already had the answers. Hannibal should have known that when it came breaking expectation, Newt was the king.

“When are we going to have Jacuzzi sex?”

Hannibal’s hands froze in his ledger, his reading glasses sliding down his nose. His head jerked toward his bathroom door and he stood up, stalking to the door and leaning against the frame.

Newton was in the Jacuzzi, the salts staining the water. Newt looked up at Hannibal through fogged glasses with a crooked grin.

“I mean it’s kinda inevitable at this point, right? I make you hearts, you get me salts, and now we should have awesome Jacuzzi sex.” Newt waggled his eyebrows. “And I know you’re dyin’ to see how far my tattoos go. You keep trying to get a peek when you think I’m not looking.”

Hannibal swallowed hard… because he had no argument… and he wanted it. Oh, how he _wanted_ it. 

Hannibal growled and tugged off his tie.

Newt grinned. 

::::

Somewhere along the way Newton became a permanent fixture, even before Hannibal started sucking mean marks on the inside of Newton’s thigh, his blood pounding in time to Newton’s desperate, impatient moans. 

A small part of Hannibal was worried that it would fuck everything up, his perfect crew and the way they worked—the respect and fear he managed to balance with them—that if he added sex to his life that he would be compromised. 

Then Newton’s fingernails dug into Hannibal’s shoulder, the Jacuzzi bubbles tickling Hannibal’s skin, and Hannibal didn’t think of anything more than Newton’s breath stuttering out of him.

It only took a week for Hannibal to kiss Newt in front of his crew. And it was over some damn Kaiju deal, over how perfect the hearts were, and how Newt was confident that he could start attempting to clone a brain. 

The kid had been breathless, and Hannibal’s close crew were smiling with him—and Hannibal leaned down without thinking, because when Newt smiled like that in bed Hannibal would kiss him—and his brain slipped and his lips brushed against Newt’s before he could stop himself.

Newt, to his credit, didn’t miss a beat. He just gave Hannibal an over dramatic smooch, the kind that make the “mwah” sound when he pulled away to continue explaining his grandiose plans. 

Hannibal saw several hands subtly pass money to Kae-lin. She winked and Hannibal figured that if there was a betting pool, his crew was cool with it. 

He put his hand down on Newt’s shoulder, his fingers brushing the back of Newt’s neck. Newt kept talking, motioning wildly in his lab, but pressed back against the touch.

::::

Hannibal stared at the glossy black and white photographs strewn across his desk. He felt a frown grow on his face, and Kae-lin sighed. 

Sebastian Kruger seemed to be paying Hong Kong a visit. Without telling Hannibal. The pictures were of Sebastian, a woman that Hannibal was guessing was Sebastian’s wife judging by her ring and the way she kissed her husband’s cheek, Diana, and his crew behind him. Sebastian was in a white vest and a grey suit, his wife in a beautiful dress. 

The bastards were practically posing for a picture. 

Hannibal dragged his hand down his face.

“No word on why they’re here?”

Kae-lin shook her head. 

“Nothing. And they’re coming close to our base.”

“Damn it.” Hannibal collected the pictures and handed them back to Kae-lin. “Keep someone tailing them, he so much as sneezes the wrong way, I wanna know about it.” 

Kae-lin nodded curtly and opened the door to leave Hannibal’s study only to find Newt in her way. He smiled and ducked under her arm, making her laugh as she shut the door. He saw the look on Hannibal’s face and his smile faded.

“What’s wrong?”

Hannibal shrugged. 

“Eh. Punks stepping on my turf. Not sure what they want.” 

Hannibal reached for Newt before he could stop himself. Newt let himself be pulled until their knees banged together, Newt’s nose bumping against Hannibal’s. He laughed his thumb pressed against Hannibal’s cheek, right under his scarred eye. 

“Guess what.” Hannibal chuckled and Newt pinched Hannibal’s side. “Come on, I’m serious.”

“All right, kid. What?”

Newt rolled his eyes.

“I said guess—” Hannibal’s fingers drifted down to Newt’s sides, right where he was ticklish, and Newt squirmed. “Okay, okay! I wanted to cook tonight. Not like meth, but you seriously need to understand that magic of _Breaking Bad_ , but actual food. I know you probably don’t believe me, but I’m a _great_ cook; you’re gonna come in your pants as soon as you eat it.”

Hannibal shook his head, smiling. 

“You’re going to pay for the dry cleaning bill if that happens.” Newt finally gave in and leaned down, capturing Hannibal’s lips. Every time Newt kissed Hannibal, the kid was jittery, couldn’t sit still. Newt’s lips sank into Hannibal’s lower lip and Hannibal moaned, a soft, secret moan that he only allowed himself to make when they were alone. Newt smiled, eating up Hannibal’s pleasure like it was a feast. Hannibal broke away before it could get too heated even though he was already hard. “I’ll send you with Kae-lin and Jin. They’ll help you figure out what you need.”

Newt nodded and kissed the corner of Hannibal’s mouth, his cheek. 

“Sounds good.” Newt lifted Hannibal’s sunglasses, not taking them off, just moving them so he could kiss the bottom tip of his scar—his tongue darting out to lick it, making Hannibal jerk back and laugh. “Prepare yourself for the ultimate dining experience.”

Hannibal laughed and shoved Newton off of him, watching the scientist bounce out of the study and link arms with Kae-lin and Jin. He made sure to get all his calls done ahead of time and to take care of any meetings promptly. He’d just wrapped up his last call with Spain when Kae-lin and Jin burst through the door… without Newt.

Hannibal yanked on his jacket and pulled open his desk drawer, threading his fingers through gold brass knuckles. 

“What the hell happened?”

Jin was bleeding from his cheek, a nasty bruise already forming. In all his time working for Hannibal, he’d never seen Jin with any injury on him other than bloody knuckles. Kae-lin’s eyes were bright, the kind of bright that meant she was out for blood.

“The German—” she spoke in Cantonese so fast that Hannibal couldn’t understand her and Jin started talking over her in even _faster_ Cantonese. Hannibal held up his hand and Kae-lin took a deep breath. “He jumped us, that— _woman_ , she took him—Newt told us not to worry but—”

Hannibal tossed keys at Jin.

“Drive.”

::::

On the ride over to where Kruger was staying Hannibal was painted a rather dark picture. They’d made it to the market when Diana had appeared and had sucker-punched Jin right off the bat before grabbing Newt and shoving him into a dark car. Newt shouted to Kae-lin that it was okay, “Tell Hannibal it’s all going to be okay, all right? Tell him not to worr—”

And that was all they heard before the car screeched away.

Hannibal’s fingers were tight against the brass knuckles. Cars followed him, his crew. He hadn’t had a brawl this big since he first came to Hong Kong and had to fight his way to the top. Now everyone knew better than to mess with Hannibal on his home turf. 

Well, everyone except the Germans, apparently. 

They were staying in the Hilton’s presidential penthouse suite. Hannibal walked in and before the cute girl behind the check in desk could open her mouth, he shook his head. 

“Save your breath, sweetheart, and just let us through.”

The ride up on the elevator was tense and when Hannibal kicked in the door he felt nothing besides completely justified. 

Diana was almost immediately on them and Kae-lin grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the floor, stepping over her. 

“Don’t look at him.” Kae-lin’s lips pulled back into a snarl. “Keep your eyes on me.”

Hannibal moved forward as huge lug of a German thug came out. Hannibal grinned, all teeth and bloodlust. 

“Hey, sunshine. I believe you have someone of mine.” 

The brute’s nostrils flared and he had the nerve to smirk at Hannibal. 

“Nothing but a family evening here. You’re intruding.”

They threw punches at the same time, but the German went down while Hannibal pulled back his bloodstained gold knuckles. He hadn’t had to actually punch someone himself in a long time, most of the time he didn’t feel the need because his violence didn’t need a personal touch anymore.

Hannibal’s fingers gripped the German’s collar and tugged him up. 

“Give him back before I cave your handsome face in.” 

“Whoa, whoa, everybody calm down.” Sebastian came out from around the corner, dressed to the nines, with a big smile on his face. “I think this is just a slight misunderstanding—”

“No misunderstanding, Kruger.” Hannibal kept his fingers tight on the goon. “You took one of my crew… on my home ground. That’s some serious balls, and a serious statement. Give him back now and we put all this behind us. If I have to wait for more than a minute—if he’s not in one piece, I’m going to take from you what’s missing.”

Sebastian just smiled wider and his body was jerking, his arm extended past the door, like he was holding someone back. 

“You know, my dear Hannibal, in all the years I’ve known you, I believe that’s the most you’ve ever said to me.” 

Sebastian brought his arm toward him and then Newton was there, flying forward and shoving the big German out of Hannibal’s hands.

“I told them, I told Kae-lin to tell you not to worry—Jesus.” Newt tugged off the gold knuckles and ran his fingers over Hannibal’s hand. “You’re going to get bruises…”

The German kicked Newt’s shoe, sitting up and holding his bloody nose. 

“Yeah, I’m fine, Newton, thanks.” 

Newt rolled his eyes.

“Quit whining, Olaf.”

Diana and Kae-lin slumped in from the hall; Diana’s lip split open and Kae-lin’s cheek cut. Diana had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth and a crooked smile. They had their arms around each other and Hannibal was getting a sinking feeling that he’d underestimated Newt again. When Diana walked past Hannibal, she ruffled Newt’s hair, making Newt swat at her hand. A woman—Kruger’s wife, peeked out from behind the door and slid her hand onto her husband’s shoulder.

The world started to spin and Newt was looking jumpy. His hands were shaking and Hannibal put his hand on Newt’s shoulder, bringing him close and away from the bleeding German lump on the ground. If anything, it made Newton shake worse. 

“So… there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

Newt kept biting his lower lip and Sebastian was still smiling. Diana slung her arm around Sebastian, and Kae-lin spoke one word in Cantonese. 

_“Family.”_

Hannibal closed his eyes.

Aw, shit.

::::

Kae-lin held a cold wet cloth to her face while Hannibal pressed an ice pack to his hand. Diana and Olaf were using silk handkerchiefs to clean up their faces while Sebastian bent over the stove. Mrs. Kruger (“Please, please, call me Marian”) smiled at Newton. 

“You really should call more, Newton, honestly, we didn’t know you had a boyfriend—”

Any other day of the week Hannibal would have loved how red Newton’s face became and how his embarrassment was palpable. Except now Newt made a miserable sound and Hannibal wanted to make one with him.

“Jesus, _Mom_ , he’s not—boyfriend is a word that I’ve _never_ liked to use—you know what, how have you been, let’s get an update on your life, how’s Germany been doing, mom? How’s the weather? Any new gossip—ow!”

Diana jerked and Newt hopped back from the table, his shoe still a little indented from where Diana had stomped on it. Hannibal pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Your name is Geiszler. Even when I checked up on you—Geiszler was all that came up.”

Newt leaned in close, lowering his voice. 

“Look, man, I didn’t want to have the name that was associated with… well, you know, the Kruger Family, so I used mom’s maiden name. I love science, and I didn’t want anyone to go easy on me because of who my dad is. And plus it makes going to Kaiju organ dealers a lot less terrifying when I don’t have the name of a competitor.” 

Sebastian turned around, drawing in a large breath, and Hannibal remembered thinking it had been a miracle that the older man had kept quiet for that long. 

“Now, now, I wouldn’t think of myself as a _competitor_ , more of a… friendly opponent. And we’ve worked together on some deals. And frankly, Newton, I’m impressed that you’ve managed to land such a prominent criminal figure—”

Newton covered his face with his hands. 

“Dad, no, this is cruel and unusual, even for you. I didn’t _land_ anybody I just—we just…”

“He impressed me.” Everyone turned to Hannibal, like they’d forgotten he was in the room. “He came to my place, was an annoying brat, but he proved himself. He’s a God damned genius, and every time I don’t give him enough credit I’m quickly sorry for it.” Hannibal clenched his fists. “He’s a necessary—and important part of my team.”

Marian had such a genuine look of concern on her face that Hannibal could very easily see how she could make men fall to their knees for her. 

“Oh, no, sweetie, we didn’t mean to make you worry. We just wanted to see our son, he’s so hard to get on the phone, and when he does answer all he talks about is you—or the Kaiju, of course.”

Sebastian placed a steaming hot casserole on the table and sat down next to his wife, kissing her temple. 

“You threw away the strudel I’d hoped you’d give to Newton, I was worried he wasn’t eating well.”

Hannibal glowered.

“I thought you poisoned it.”

Sebastian’s face fell—and then he stroked his beard. 

“Ah, now that you mention it, I can see how you could interpret my actions to be sinister.” Newt laughed, a little hysteric, and Hannibal’s shoulders relaxed slightly. Newt’s hand bumped Hannibal’s, and before Newt could pull away Hannibal slid his hand over Newt’s, sliding his fingers along Newton’s. Sebastian’s eyes glanced down at the gesture briefly, his lips twitching upwards before he looked back into Hannibal’s sunglasses. “Fact of the matter is, Hannibal, I trust my son, I just his judgments, his character—I trust him because I know him. The one person in this room I do not know, Hannibal, is you. My son insists that you’re quite a,” Sebastian waved his hands for added flair, “leader with a lot of integrity though you disguise it with your sunglasses and iron fist. But I, frankly, am not familiar with you in the way that Newton is.”

Newt rolled his eyes.

“Thank God for that.” 

Hannibal disguised his laughter with awkward coughing and he squeezed Newton’s pinky finger lightly. Sebastian cleared his throat, giving Newt a disapproving gaze before turning a very serious and cold gaze onto Hannibal.

“Since Newton’s impatient and doesn’t appreciate the eloquence of threading words together, I’ll get to the point. Treat my son well, as it seems you have been doing so far—or I will have fire rain down over Hong Kong and by the time I’m finished with you, all hope will have been carefully carved out of you.” Sebastian’s hand darted forward and a glass of wine. He lifted it, warm grin illuminating his face. “Cheers, to a happy relationship.” 

Hannibal clinked his glass against Sebastian’s, and when he stood up Newton stood with him. Hannibal bowed his head slightly. 

“Auf Wiedersehen, Sebastian.” 

He left with bruised knuckles and Kae-lin behind him. Newt brought Hannibal’s hand up to his mouth and he kissed his knuckles briefly before lightly biting them. 

Hannibal smiled.

::::

Business went on, as business tended to do. Things didn’t change much, and Newton was happy to return to Hannibal’s complex. Sometimes things would get tense, a deal would go south, or an organ wouldn’t form correctly—but most of the time it was… pretty nice. 

There were days when Hannibal’s phone would ring and he’d get a pinched, exasperated look on his face and call Newt’s name before he answered the call. Some new recruits would ask Kae-lin who was on the other line. She’d just smirk and say,

“In-laws.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a fill for a prompt left at pacifickink. It's also my first time writing from Hannibal's point of view, so I hope it satisfies. When I was writing Sebastian was I imagining Christoph Waltz and his love of speaking haha. 
> 
> A big thanks to Rendianami for being my lovely beta! 
> 
> Criticisms and Comments are love!


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